Obama, family attend Christmas church services

JULIE PACEAssociated Press Published: December 25, 2011 5:17 PM

HONOLULU (AP) -- After spending a quiet Christmas morning with his family, President Barack Obama attended church services Sunday at a Marine base near his rented Hawaiian vacation home.

The Obamas made the short drive from their multimillion-dollar Kailua Beach house to the chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The president dressed casually in dark khaki pants and a short-sleeve blue shirt, and his wife and daughters donned sundresses for Christmas services on a bright and breezy day on the island of Oahu.

The Obamas have been spending the holiday with a small group of friends and family, including the president's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives in Hawaii with her family.

On Christmas Eve, the president made phone calls to 10 service members stationed around the world, two from each branch of the military. The White House said he thanked them for their service and the sacrifice of being away from their families at the holidays.

Obama has kept a low profile since arriving in Hawaii on Friday evening to start a vacation delayed by the stalemate in Washington over extending payroll tax cuts. He has no public events planned, and his only outings are expected to be to the golf course or to take his daughters for shave ice, a Hawaiian snow cone.

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Associated Press writer Jaymes Song in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, contributed to this report.